Pope Leo Meets Russian Orthodox Church Official in Vatican

Pope Leo met on Saturday with Metropolitan Anthony, a senior cleric in the Russian Orthodox Church, in a possible effort to ease ties between the churches strained by the invasion of Ukraine.

The pontiff saw Anthony, chairman of the department of external church relations, and five other high-profile clerics during an audience in the morning, the Vatican said in a statement without further elaborating. Since assuming the papacy in May, Leo has repeatedly appealed for peace in global conflicts and this month told visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the Vatican was willing to host Russia-Ukraine peace talks.

Russian officials, however, have said they do not view the Vatican as a serious venue for talks because it is surrounded by NATO member Italy which has supported Ukraine.

In his first call with President Vladimir Putin, at the beginning of June, Pope Leo urged Russia to take steps towards ending the conflict. The head of Russia's Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, has been an enthusiastic backer of the invasion of Ukraine.